Fitzpatricks ready for family reunion at Valspar Championship

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – The Brothers Fitzpatrick may sound like some new Netflix series directed by Edward Burns, set in England, not Ireland, but instead it’s live theater at this week’s Valspar Championship at Innisbrook Resort.

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Amateur Alex Fitzpatrick, who followed in his brother’s footsteps as a Walker Cup competitor for Great Britain & Ireland, will make his PGA TOUR debut on Thursday upon Innisbrook’s demanding Copperhead Course. Big brother Matt will not be far away.

The two Fitzpatricks are four years apart, Matt the elder at age 27. He seems to enjoy watching his little brother embark on a path that he successfully has traveled, joining him for a practice round around the Copperhead on Tuesday. Before the 2019 Walker Cup, Alex’s first of two, Matt playfully described his little brother to a Golf Digest reporter thusly: “He is disorganized, messy and his diet is terrible.” Ah, where would we be without big brothers. Talking a little more seriously on Tuesday about his younger brother’s growth as a player, Matt clearly is filled with brotherly pride and love.

“It’s exciting for him,” Matt said. “I just hope he plays well. I know he is capable, and hopefully he can show that.”

Alex Fitzpatrick, a senior at golf-rich Wake Forest, earned his way into this week’s Valspar field via his victory last March in the Valspar Collegiate, a 54-hole event staged across the state at The Floridian. At dinner after the first day of play, a 36-hole marathon, it was mentioned to the competitors that the winner would play in the 2022 Valspar Championship. That got Alex’s attention.

“It was kind of a nerve-wracking final 18 holes,” he said, “but I played nice golf and I managed to get it done. Now I’m here, and I couldn’t be happier.”

He has had nearly a year to prepare for his opportunity, mixing in a second Walker Cup appearance and a bonus senior season of golf in between. Alex has been busy working on the parts of his game he knows he must sharpen to make it at the next level – his driving accuracy and putting, namely. He has a goal to join his older brother, a winner of seven international titles and a two-time Ryder Cupper, in the pro ranks as soon as June.

“I felt like if I gave myself another year (at school), my golf game could progress and mature a little bit, and felt like I’m more ready now than I would have been last year, which is nice,” said Alex, who has posted five consecutive top-20 finishes for the Demon Deacons in 2021-22.

Alex and his older brother live busy schedules and can go through long patches when they don’t see one another, but Matt is never far away, generously offering advice via phone and text when his brother beckons. He also is cognizant to give his brother room to figure some things out for himself, too. In the brothers’ practice round on Tuesday, Matt left space for Alex to get his course inquiries answered by veteran caddie Mick Doran, who regularly loops for Tyrrell Hatton.

Given their age differential, the two brothers did not grow up shattering living room tables while wrestling and grabbing one another in endless headlocks. Alex always was far behind Matt in his golf. The brothers shared a beautiful lifetime moment at The Country Club outside Boston in 2013, when Matt became the first Englishman in more than a century to win the U.S. Amateur. His little brother, then 14, was on his bag for the week. Alex was a long way from beating Matt on any golf course.

The two had a laugh on Tuesday recalling that the family member who pipped Matt on the golf course was their father, Russ, who introduced the boys to the game at Hallamshire Golf Club in Sheffield and sent Matt down to defeat in an event they infamously refer to as “The June Medal.” Matt rolls his eyes at the mere mention. Matt was 19 at the time, and his answer to a humbling defeat to Dad (a 2-handicap at his peak) was to go out, qualify for his first Open Championship at Muirfield, and capture the silver medal as low amateur.

Matt and Alex have distinctly different games. Matt is all about control, and always has been an excellent putter. Alex has more speed and power in his swing, not always finding fairways. Matt could use some of his brother’s length, and Alex could draft off his brother’s sureness and confidence. Matt always admired that his little brother always showed an extra gear to go low.

Alex is ranked sixth in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, and fifth in the PGA TOUR University standings. The top five seniors at the conclusion of the college season earn status on the Korn Ferry Tour, which could be a very important step. Big brother not only is supportive, but rather optimistic about Alex’s road ahead.

“Once he got to college and started playing well and rising up the World Amateur Golf Ranking, I think that’s when I thought it could happen (a pro career),” Matt said. “Obviously I played with him a lot when he was younger, and he always had this special talent. That was the big thing for me. He could go really low when he was younger, and that was a sign in itself.”

Matt recalled his brother shooting 62 at Cleveland Golf Club in Yorkshire when Alex was only 16 or 17. “I think he was 10 under, and it was the course record by a few,” Matt said.

Alex hasn’t been the only Fitzpatrick in good form of late. A missed cut on the bad side of the draw at THE PLAYERS Championship was a rare blip on Matt’s recent record. In his five previous worldwide starts, he had not finished worse than T12. He worked hard on swing technique in the past year, and is seeing quality results, playing nicely dating to last fall.

“Matt's been an underestimated player, for whatever reason, for the whole of his career,” European Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington said of Fitzpatrick last fall. “He continually delivers on a big stage. He is a great player. Does fantastic.”

Matt said he would write off last week’s results (74-74) due to odd weather circumstances, and he is fresh and ready to go at Valspar. He and Alex tee off 33 minutes apart off No. 10 on Thursday morning. This week, his own score won’t be the only one that keenly interests him. Yes, this could be the start of a nice run for the Brothers Fitzpatrick.